Alvara
by grizzlergrace123
Summary: Am I the only one left confused about their feelings for the finale of Season 2? A somewhat alternate ending, in which the cure for Damon doesn't quite work & something else, or someone else, comes along instead...
1. Chapter 1

She watched. And as she watched, she listened. She listened as Tyler and Joules made plans to leave Mystic Falls. She listened as Matt and the Sheriff discussed Caroline in the Grill. She listened as Damon and Bonnie constructed a plan to fool Klaus into thinking she was dead. She listened to a lot of things. She listened as Alaric lied to Jenna. Then she listened as he said goodbye to her for the last time, as they laid her coffin into the ground. And now, it was time to act.

As she crooked a finger towards him, she swung her hair out of its ponytail, knowing the movement would shift her scent even closer to him. She led the way to the back entrance of the Grill, raising her eyebrow as he smirked and followed her, the smugness obvious on his face. _This girl was practically offering herself to him on a plate. _

As she felt the door press itself against her back, she shifted and it swung back, opening onto a dark alleyway. An ideal place for what she had planned, and by the look in his eyes, so did he. Moving further down the alleyway, out of sight of anybody coming out of the back entrance, the two moved, one leading the other further into the darkness. After what seemed like an eternity, a dumpster loomed into sight. They smiled at each other seductively, both unaware of each others names, but aware that the inevitable for both of them was here. Moving closer, they settled into their chosen spot.

Suddenly, in one swift movement, his lips were at her neck, his teeth sinking into her flesh. But this was the funny thing. As her blood, her sweet smelling blood, the strongest scent he had ever found in his 100 years of living, had gathered in his month and swam down his throat, a fire began in his body. A slight discomfort at first that scalded his mouth, but soon developed into a blaze of heat, scorching his veins, his stomach, his skin, tearing away at his insides, fighting to engorge its victim. Until all that was left was its withered remains, its grey skin with eyes sunk back into the sockets, gathered in a heap in the alleyway. With a swift kick to its neck, she watched as its head caved in, until the mound was literally clothes and dust worthy of the dumpster. And in it went.

"Shoot", she exclaimed as she felt the heat of her blood trickle down her neck. With a quick wipe of her neck and a tightening of her scarf, she walked back to the Grill; following the path she had led it down only moments earlier. And then the alley was still.


	2. Chapter 2

This town was far from boring. When Vespa assigned her to come here on 'great importance' her first impression was _stuck in the past_. And sure enough the respect for the 'Founding Families' that was so common in these sorts of place was paramount in this one. But judging by the history of this place, was this a good thing? The church burning of the vampires was quite a story back at Vespa, though the tomb underneath had equal popularity. From the first step into the only diner this place seemed to have, the Grill, the putrid stench of supernatural hit her like a wave of nausea. The smoky waft of roses that clung to witches came from a booth in the corner, occupied by a girl with chocolate brown skin and piercing eyes. Next to her was a boy, with a cheeky younger face, but more importantly, an unmistakable ring slotted onto his finger. Maybe there was somebody she could trust in this town after all, though judging by his company he was not the wisest of all boys. Her attention turned towards it across the table, the thing that was giving off part of the stink that was vampire, the smell of burning hay, though others before her had compared it to cut grass before. She had bright blonde hair, obviously dyed, though a small detail like that wouldn't cost to a vampire. Why dye it for a cost when you can compel someone to do it for free, _and_ give you a snack, right? Her mouth was constantly moving, an obvious chatterbox, until she was silenced by a boy calling her name.

'Caroline', he called, pausing to stop at their table and refill their drinks before continuing, 'I can pick you up after work ok?'

Caroline replied and he moved on to another table. The aroma of Vervain was obvious, laced through his blood from drinking she imagined. She briefly wondered if Caroline would be smiling so much if she knew her boyfriend had Vervain in his system, before moving on to a broody young boy alone near the bar. He smelt of wood and ash and so he was a werewolf no doubt. For the time being, he was harmless, and so she moved on to the other side of the bar.

From the side profile, she could see one had a ring similar to the boy seated next to the witch. His honey-haired girlfriend, judging by the body language those two were throwing about, seemed to be the only one in this group oblivious to just who she was sat spending time with. Well good for her, she would be happier that way. Next to her, sat another vamp, which she recognised straight away from the hours of reading she had done back in Vespa;

Stefan Salvatore had sandy brown hair, a long lean face, and a permanent furrowed brow, though his photo didn't do him justice. Judging from his smell, his diet consisted of a strict no blood regime, which was rare to find in a vampire, especially someone with as avid a history as him. Looking back into files, he was quite The Vampire not too long ago, the kind they base the tasteless horror movies on. And, as expected, was his brother Damon Salvatore seated on his other side. Tall, toned, with a brooding stare and a sash of brown hair, his history was a lot fuller than his brothers, though it consisted of more random victims, typical of most vampires. Turned in the late 1800's, it was about time she laid eyes upon the notorious Salvatore's and, as recorded by previous Vespa associates, their love interest and the final participant in the group at the bar. Elena Gilbert. She could see the interest, looks like that were enough to charm anyone, Katherine Pierce could tell you that. That, coupled with the faint odour of sea salt was enough to convince her. Was there anyone in this town who wasn't supernatural? A witch, a werewolf, 3 vampires, and now a doppelganger. She was going to have her work cut out for her, though sadly not in the case of Miss Gilbert which was disappointing. The two ring-bearers, the smiley honey-haired girlfriend, the cute teen, and just about everyone else in this bar, putting aside the Others of course, were her priority now. And just as well, because with this town's history and inhabitants, they sure as hell needed her.


	3. Chapter 3

The seven of them sat in the parlour of the Salvatore home; Damon, Elena, Alaric, Bonnie, Jeremy, Caroline and Tyler. The memory of Jenna's death, Elijah's betrayal, and Klaus' successful transformation still hung in the air, a reminder of all they had suffered, making the news they had just received even more bitter. Damon was dying, and Stefan was gone, under the allure that he had sacrificed himself to Klaus in order for his brother to live. Except his brother would not live. Before leaving, Katherine had told of her assurance that the cure would work, that it had been tested on herself and was successful. But Damon's recovery had lasted mere minutes before the sweat, the illusions, and the pain deep in his bones returned. That was when, in desperation, Elena had called the other five.

And now, here they were in the middle of the night, with another burden on their already laden shoulders that didn't seem to have a solution. Not this time. More than one of them realised how normally Stefan would solve it, Stefan would know what to do. But Stefan wasn't here, and by the look of Damon's deteriorating form, he would not have the time to come up with a solution even if he were. Damon lay slumped on an armchair, propped up by Elena, while the others, some seated and some stood, watched and each came to the realisation of how hopeless the situation was, and sure of the fact that Damon was going to die. The girls began to weep, Bonnie first and then Caroline, for Elena had not stopped since Katherine had left and Damon had slowly returned to his weakening state. Alaric paced back and forth across the room, trying to maintain control as technically the eldest, and yet grew more and more frustrated of how weak and helpless he was to stop another person he cared about dying. He sensed that the venom had already been to deep set in Damon's system for Klaus' blood to cure him, but he did not speak, knowing this would not bring comfort to anybody there. Instead he paced, over and over, counting each footstep- anything to distract himself from his surroundings, until a look from Jeremy and Tyler stopped him in his tracks. Then the only noises in the room were Elena's sobs and Damon's heavy raspy breathing.

Until the great door of the Salvatore home burst open.

Nobody moved. Normally either Stefan or Damon would have shot to the door in this moment. Realising her new position as the strongest, Caroline stood and made her way to the hallway, at a speed that wasn't quite supernaturally fast but not a human pace either, as if she was trying to put off the inevitability that something else was about to brace the group and either shatter them for good or be the hope that they needed. A few paces into the hallway, and Caroline was coming back again, or more she was forced back again. As Caroline's back connected with the furthest wall of the parlour, Elena gasped, and letting go of Damon, stood quickly like the rest of them to face the intruder. For a moment, everything was still, the night outside stopped it's usual noises and the heavy breathing of them all seemed to cease, almost as if time was hinting at the arrival of something big and was giving them a moment to process and prepare. Then everything seemed to happen in full speed.

A girl, moving quick and determinedly, did not approach the room but instead swept in like it was familiar to her, or just insignificant. In those brief moments before she came into contact with any of them, few things registered about her appearance; her hair was swept back into a tatty bun, and judging by the tendrils escaping it was long and curly, and she had big brown eyes and full red lips that both seemed to have had no assistance from cosmetics, coupled with a nose that was in proportion with the rest of her face. She wore a simple black dress, with military style laced up boots. There was a simple backpack slung over her shoulder. As first impressions go, she was beautiful. As she neared the first person in the room that had been closest to the doorway, Tyler, she did not speak, but continued on the path she seemed set on fulfilling, pausing only to fling him to the far wall of the room without ease when he put a threatening hand on her arm. Bonnie approached her next, as Caroline was still lain groaning on the other side of the room.

'You can't do thi-', Bonnie started, but she was silenced as the girl indeed did stop. The two spent mere moments sizing each other up, until Bonnie's arm raised and her mouth moved, beginning an incantation that would no doubt cause harm to the girl. And so, with a hand over her mouth and her arm twisted around her back, she was thrown to the third wall of the room.

The 'pure' human's, bar Elena's faint doppelganger trace, remained, though the girl made no move to harm them and they made no move to confront her. Instead she continued on the path she had never swayed from, which lead to Damon. He had sensed in his ruined state that there had been a commotion in the room, but he had been unaware what it was, only that it had caused Elena to move from his side. At the touch of two smooth cool hands on his face, he moved restlessly, perhaps the wrong move as it confirmed he was alive. The hands moved to the back of his neck for a moment before leaving for a moment. He heard the creak of two of his father's wooden chairs moving to the centre of the room and the other furniture, like the coffee table and sofa being pushed to the sides of the room. The hands returned to the underneath of each of his arms and lifted him up slowly. Then, in a less gentle movement he was dragged, his shoes scraping the polished floor, to one of the wooden chairs.

Elena had watched in horror, but much to her shame, she did not intervene with the actions of the girl in the black dress. Alaric moved first, as the girl began tossing furniture around the room. Out of the corner of her eye she sensed his approach, and stopped and looked at him warily. She had an air of authority to her, so rather than demanding furiously who she was and what she wanted like he would with most other intruders, he proceeded with caution.

'Excuse me?' he began, 'who are you? What are you doing?'  
>She slowly looked around the room. Tyler was now mobile, thanks to the aid of Caroline, and Bonnie was back in her original position next to Jeremy. Elena was stood behind Alaric, though the girl could tell she was torn between listening and going to Damon's side. Realising she had all their attention, and that there was no way she could fight them off and carry out her task, she began to speak in a tired voice, a voice beyond her age. The voice of somebody that had suffered more, perhaps more than anybody here, than a person should ever suffer in a lifetime.<p>

'My name is Allie, short for Alvara,' she said, as she turned to Elena and Jeremy with a pained expression, 'I could have saved your Aunt Jenna's life. But I didn't.'

Jeremy's eyebrows shot up. This was not what he was expecting. His eyes flickered to Elena, but she stood frozen with a stone cold expression painted on her face. However the girl, Alvara, did not pause for their reaction but continued.

'And now I'm here to apologise to you both. And to pay you back.' And, as though that was enough explanation, she went back to rearranging the furniture.

Tyler erupted from his silence. 'This is bullshit! How did you throw each of us across the room? What are you? How do you know us, how do you know about Jenna?' In his frustration, he took a step towards her and once again grabbed her arm to make her turn. She turned with a steely glare and took his neck like it was a simple twig between her fingers, pulling his face entire body towards hers.

' I'm a slayer, and not just a vampire slayer. I slay all kinds of things, including _your _kind, and if you make one more threatening gesture towards me I will snap your neck without a second thought,' she said through gritted teeth, 'so, why don't you _back the hell off _and let me save this thing's life, which by the way I really do not feel comfortable doing, before I change my mind and kill the lot of you. Bar the three I haven't touched of course.' She shoved him, letting go of him as he tumbled backwards coughing and rubbing his neck. Neither Caroline nor Bonnie made a move towards her, but instead joined Alaric Jeremy and Elena in staring at Tyler's bruising neck in astonishment and at Alvara with fear. She frantically pulled clear tubes, beakers, all kinds of equipment from her backpack and tossed them on her floor, before heaving a huge sigh and pausing to muss her fringe up with her fingers tiredly and turned to Jeremy and Elena.

'I came here to survey the situation. The people I work for, Vespa, they knew something odd was going on here, though they didn't tell me what. I figured that much out for myself,' she moved towards Damon and straightened him on his chair for something to do, 'I was told to watch and to step in if human life was harmed, though you kind of all like to keep to your own supernatural selves, except you three of course. And Jenna. The four of you, and Caroline's boyfriend Matt became my main priority, as well as the rest of this town as a whole of course. Reports soon came in from all over of what the Originals were up to, what Klaus wanted, but we didn't know why. This would mean harming a human life, you Elena, but because of your situation as a doppelganger you were not considered as important.' She winced at that last part, realising the absurdity of that statement.

'After a month of being here, I was told not to interfere and instead to leave; we at Vespa are only supposed to get involved when there is a direct involvement of human life and to protect it at all costs from any form of the supernatural. On the day I was leaving, the day of the sacrifice, I found out that Jenna had been taken, and I realised what for. So I reported it. At this point we were still under the illusion that the legend was real, that the moonstone was the key to breaking a curse that kept vampires and werewolves isolated at different times during 24 hours. Vespa thought that the two kinds would finish each other off in their haste to break the curse, and even once the curse was broken and they were in the same time frame; thus in the long term more human lives would be saved. They thought the sacrifice should happen, and so Jenna's life would have to be taken in order for so many other lives to be saved.' Her face turned to disgust as she paced and fidgeted.

'They said if she knew, she would be honoured. I knew it was wrong, I knew it went against Vespa's aims, against human beings own morals, but I left under orders. Until reports came in of this bogus legend and I realised what was happening, that we had unwillingly let a monster be created, and your beautiful Aunt had had to die. And I had let it happen, even when I knew something wasn't right.' She came to a stop. 'And I am so sorry. I owe you; I am in your debt. And when I caught a whiff of this guy,' she gestured to Damon, 'I realised how I could repay that debt.

I cannot bring your Aunt back. But I can save this vampires life.'


	4. Chapter 4

Before now, Alvara had been unable to act. She wanted too, she knew what was going on in this town, sensed the arrival of the Originals weeks before. But it involved the Supernatural, and was not harming any humans, right now anyway, and so she was not at liberty to intervene. It was how she lived, how she had been brought up – protect the humans. And so far Matt, Alaric, Jeremy, and Jenna had not been active participants in the mess that engulfed Elena Gilbert's life. Until they were, she would lie on the sidelines, and watch, and possibly kill any supernatural passer by's, like the guy in the bar last week.

She should have probably moved on by now, most jobs took a week at the most, but this was the most interesting and possibly problematic incident she had ever come across. Throughout her life there had been the odd 'revolution' where the vampires or witches planned to take over a small town, but there were generally amateurs, and like she said they took a week to take care of. If she was honest, it was the brothers that intrigued her, and she didn't just mean the Salvatore's. The Originals tended to lay low, avoid any major interaction with human life, and just restore order among their own kind.

To see them so open and with an obvious interest in the girl was intriguing. However their power in the vampire world needed to be monitored and if they did decide on any action towards the humans in Elena's life, she intended to be ready. And so, with the permission of Vespa, she stayed and co-existed with them, always watching and always ready.

Until Jenna. Jenna was polite in passing, had a ready smile, always trusting of others. And Klaus took her, changed her into a monster, and ripped her heart out. She wished she could have prevented it, but she couldn't. With their blatant interaction with the Supernatural, she focused on the protection of Jeremy, Alaric, Matt and Jenna the most, as well as the rest of the population of Mystic Falls in general. She had known something was coming; there was a change in the scent of the vampires, the Originals appearances became more frequent, and of course Alaric was possessed by Klaus- she sensed that straight away, in his mannerisms and the stench of burning roses and hay. But Vespa told her to stay away, to leave, it was nothing to do with us, it was interactions between their kinds. Until Jenna was killed, and the creature was born. Yet they still said it was none of our business and in the long term more would be saved because of this. However that day it became her business. And that day she did something she never thought she'd do- she disobeyed orders.

She had grown up with them, born as a slayer- a rare find. Some people wanted to be slayers to protect. Some people wanted to be slayers for revenge. And some had no choice. Alvara's body was born for this. She could sense the presence all kinds of the Supernatural in an instant, could reduce their inhuman strength and abilities to those of a human, and more importantly; her blood was the ultimate weakness to a vampire. Many vampires thought vervain was their only flaw and so becoming immune made them untouchable. That was because those who did know about a slayers blood were dead before they could tell anyone. Alvara was unique, and was rare to find as if there were any more born slayers, they generally didn't know about their abilities and didn't have the resources or guidance to use them to their true potential. Vespa had raised her, once her parents had initiated her, and though she was the only one of her kind, and so superior, she often felt like a puppet, ordered by the council to act out their wishes. But they were her family; they had protected her, guided her, trained her, and educated her of all the bad things in the world, things most people her age could only dream about. And those dreams were nightmares. But she was still a human, though with supernatural abilities of her own, and she still had morals. And she knew, no matter what Vespa said, no matter how much more knowledge they had on the matter – this wasn't right. And no more could she stand back and watch the town's lives continue to be ruined and allow this new creation of monster to roam the world. She was here to protect.

And that was how she came to be there, in the Salvatore home.


	5. Chapter 5

In the silence that followed, nobody moved.

Nobody except Alvara.

Elena and Jeremy were the most astounded and confused; relief that Damon would be saved, but grief that Jenna could have lived. What could they do? Hate this girl, scream and shout at her for not saving Jenna? Or help her, question her, be grateful for what she was about to do?

Alaric sensed their confusion, so he once again took charge. The time for their grieving and possible anger, any negative emotion they might feel towards the slayer could wait. But Damon could not. His body had slowly begun to slump, his head lolling forward, but his eyes still flickered open and from across the room Alaric could see the shock and concern in them. Concern for his life? Concern for Elena? Alaric couldn't tell. But one thing he could tell was that Damon was not concerned with the girl. And so, while the younger ones spluttered at each other in astonishment, well Tyler more in anger at the state of his neck, Alaric slowly bent to pick up the various things the girl had lugged out of her bag that had rolled across the floor: the beakers, the tubes, and now he could see more closely, the syringes and chains. She eyed him gratefully, and with no words the two heaved Damon back upright into a sitting position. _Were almost one in the same_, Alaric thought, both arriving in Mystic Falls to fight off the supernatural, though judging by the growing welts on Tyler's neck they were not _quite_ the same. However, he had found himself an ally.

'How?' a throaty voice broke across the room. 'How can you save him?'

Alaric and Alvara turned towards Caroline's voice. As explanations went, Alvara had done her fair share tonight, but she knew in order to let them do this she would have to explain. 'Come here,' she beckoned to Caroline, and Tyler. They strode over, though warily, as they had probably received the most anguish off the new girl, and stood in front of her. Alvara drew a blade from her pocket and pressed the tip of her finger to the sharp end, drawing blood. She now had the attention of everybody in the room. Damon, even in his weakening state, had caught a whiff of her sweet blood when she had first arrived, but now she had spilt blood the smell was even more empowering. For Caroline, with a fully functional (though dead) body it was even worse, though she was no stranger to blood she had never quite smelt it quite like this. She had ignored it at first, to overpowered by her anger when Alvara had first arrived to pay any real attention to it, but now the blood was there shining in the low light of the parlor, she couldn't ignore it. Though normally she was able to control her reaction, her eyes began to darken and her fangs began to extend. Thankfully, nobody's attention was on her.

With a miniature puddle on the end of her finger, Alvara moved closer to Tyler, who of course was not affected by her blood. Until she pressed it against his cheek. The group heard the slight hissing before they saw the angry red burn forming on his cheek. Tyler pulled away, clutching his cheek in disbelief. 'Yeah try biting into that, count yourself lucky you're not in dog form, that's when I do some damage. Not that you will be grateful to hear this, but as you are now, as a human, you're not that powerful. Well not around me anyway. You, me, the vamp's…I'm kind of equal in strength to you all.'

Then she turned to Bonnie who stepped back but still kept her eyes fixed on Alvara. 'Now, you the blood doesn't bother. You're technically just not able to use any witchy magic on me.'

Bonnie went to speak.

'Yeah please don't bother trying either,' Alvara finished.

'And now we have you, the vampire. You guys are my main task, the rest of the supernatural tend to leave humans alone.' Using the same finger she had pressed against Tyler, she smudged Caroline's cheek, and she clutched it and screamed. The hissing was louder now, and it reminded Alaric of the times he had seen vervain used on vampires, only much more angry and painful. 'Yeah, try drinking it.

Oh and while we're on the topic, no werewolf venom or vampire blood will kill me or change me, my body will just instantly repel it. Which is why my blood tends to kill you off before you can give me any, or try to kill me. Actually, nothing to do with the supernatural will kill me. So far anyway.' Alvara said 'Which brings me to my next point,' and with a flourish she turned back to Damon.

'I can get rid of this werewolf venom from your system with some of my blood, it will vanquish it instantly. But if I put this blood into your system, you're going to die; it will fry you from the inside out.' She paused to see if he had questions, but he continued to fix her with his stare showing no emotion. 'So, we need to mix the two, my blood and your blood, so that it won't harm your body once injected.'

Alaric moved to grab the beakers and syringes, finally realizing what they were for, until Alvara stopped him by gently touching his elbow. 'It's not as simple as that. Is it ever as simple as we'd like?' Alvara said with a bark of laughter. 'For our two types of blood to mix we can't just mix them in a beaker or something. They have to be mixed properly and naturally. So basically, in the body. My body.'

'But you said your body will repel vampire blood,' Alaric protested in confusion.

'What do you think these are for?' Alvara said lightly, as she held up the chains that she had tossed from her backpack. She had an air of ease about her, but the fear in her eyes was obvious.

It was then that Jeremy and Elena, and the rest of them decided to speak up. Or more shout up.

'What do you mean?'

'Have you ever done this before?'

'What's happening?'

Realization dawned on Alaric at the risk the girl was taking, and he watched as the others fired questions at her and she silently began to assemble the beakers, the tubes and the syringes onto the table beside Damon.

Damon was watching her intently too. The pain from dying was still there, but it was like a distant pain, as were the sounds of the others shouting among themselves in frustration. It was as though he were underwater. With her. His eyes never left her as she began moving a chair on the other side of the table and he found he couldn't speak. He was too astonished to even think, let alone utter words like 'Stop.' He was lost for words.

It was when Alvara picked up the heavy chains and the metal clinked against itself that the others were silenced. Jeremy in particular. He didn't know who this girl was; he hadn't even known slayers existed. Then again, a year ago he hadn't thought vampires did so he probably should have known about slayers. He was perplexed by her to say the least, but he wasn't angry at her for the Jenna thing. That hurt too much to think about, but he had seen the raw emotion in the girls eyes when she had told them and he knew that it had not been deliberate. He had also seen the raw fear when she had explained what she was about to do but that she was more than willing to repay the debt she thought she owed. To Jeremy an apology would have been enough.

Alvara finally realized that the time had come and she couldn't put off the inevitable any longer. She had never experienced the blood of a vampire in her system, but judging by the natural effect her body and their bodies had on each other she was certain it would not be good. For her protection, the two had been designed to never connect via blood. The secret of curing a vampire of a werewolf bite was well kept among Vespa anyway, but it had never been used. Because, after all, what slayer would willingly offer to save a vampires life?

Alaric and the boy, Jeremy, began to help her into the seat and with tying her hands and feet to the arms and legs of the chair with the chains. The others continued to shoot her questioning looks, but they passed her equipment when she asked. For example, a thin clear tube, like that from a hospital drip. Alaric followed her instructions and thrust the tube into her arm, in the crease between her forearm and bicep. He figured now was not the time to follow hospital procedure. Caroline then passed a syringe to him, and shaking, he pierced Damon's arm and drew a small, but not too small, amount of his blood. Again, following instructions, Jeremy pinched the middle of the clear tube, as Alaric slipped the syringe of Damon's blood into the other end of the clear tube and released it slowly. Still pinching, Jeremy looked at Alvara, as did the others with the same questioning troubled looks. She knew they wanted to know exactly what would happen during this 'transfusion' but the truth was that she didn't know.

But as Jeremy released the tube they did know. Because the screaming started.


End file.
